Page 62 - Modern Mining
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product news
60
03.13
Index to advertisers
Aesseal
28
AFROX
52
Atlas Copco
25
Aveng Moolmans
37
Babcock Equipment
36
Barloworld Equipment – Mining
FC
Barloworld Equipment – Corporate
55
Bell Equipment Company
5
bme
OBC
Classic Seminars
Insert
Cummins South Africa
40
Flexicon Africa
15
Hosch-Fördertechnik SA
53
HPE Africa
48
Krohne
59
MDM Engineering
24
Metso Minerals
31
Minopex
56
MMD Mineral Sizing
7
Murray & Roberts Cementation
22
PANalytical
51
Pilot Crushtech
IBC
Royal HaskoningDHV
9
RSV
30
Sandvik Mining & Construction
34
Scaw Metals
18
SEW Eurodrive
2
Surgetek
57
Teichmann Africa
44
Tenova Bateman
IFC
TWP
11
UWP Consulting
13
Verder Pumps
49
Vital Engineering
8
Voith
58
Afrox Self-Rescue Division (SRD) has se-
cured a major order from a leading local
platinum producer for 26 500 AfroxPac 35i
self-contained self-rescuers and accessories
in a deal valued at tens of millions of South
African rands.
Afrox has also been awarded a contract for
monthly on-site leak testing and servicing of all
AfroxPacs at this customer’s operations. Once
the customer support strategy for the mining
company has been fully implemented, dedi-
cated Afrox SRD technicians will handle, test,
inspect and record 80 000 units every month.
Against a very tight deadline, the first 6 000
units, capable of providing life-saving oxygen
to underground personnel in the event of an
underground fire or exposure to toxic gases,
were delivered in December. With significant
additional industry demand for the product,
Two copper mining companies in Botswana
have contracted Veolia Water Solutions &
Technologies South Africa – through its sub-
sidiary, VWS Envig Botswana – to supply
containerised wastewater treatment plants to
improve the quality of discharge water com-
ing from mine camps.
“A copper mining project in north-western
Botswana has already received its new 90 m
3
Veolia supplies wastewater plants to copper miners
per day trickling filter treatment plant, which
we delivered in December,” says Wayne Tal-
jaard, GM at Veolia’s Engineered Systems &
Services. “The entire solution was designed
to be upgraded to 180 m
3
per day, and we
have already begun manufacturing the sec-
ond containerised plant at our factory in Isan-
do for delivery in March, 2013.”
Together, the plants will treat domestic
sewage generated
by nearly 900 people
to within legislated
discharge standards,
before being re-
leased into surface
water streams.
A second copper
mining company, a
longstanding Veolia
customer, has com-
missioned a 75 m
3
per day trickling filter
wastewater
treat-
ment plant to up-
grade sewage gener-
ated by roughly 350
residents at its mine
camp in north-east-
ern Botswana.
“The
customer
Veolia’s modular water treatment plants address small-scale water prob-
lems in shorter time frames, which has resulted – says the company – in
increased popularity in the mining sector throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
opted to construct a separate septic tank,
which means both modular and civil con-
struction principles will be used to build this
plant – what we call a hybrid installation,”
says Taljaard.
Typically, Veolia will include the septic tank
within a standard 12-m container, which al-
lows the entire plant to be transported via
road to remote locations. Containers are
corrosion protected and completely water
tight, and with minimal moving parts that
need maintenance, they are said to be ide-
ally suited for operation in remote African
settlements. “Once installed, they are remote
monitored and only need an operator to do
a daily inspection, making them incredibly
cost-effective to run,” says Taljaard.
VWS Envig Botswana is growing signifi-
cantly in the semi-arid country’s water mar-
ket, recently being awarded a contract to
design, supply and commission a 6 000 m
3
per day potable water plant in Maun, northern
Botswana. The plant, located near the banks
of the Thamalakane River, is scheduled to be
commissioned in September, 2013, and will
be operated and maintained by Veolia for a
subsequent six-month period.
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies
South Africa, tel (+27 11) 663-3600
website:
Platinum producer orders Afrox self-rescuers
this raised sales of the AfroxPac 35i in De-
cember to record levels, necessitating pro-
cess optimisation and ramping up of produc-
tion at SRD’s Benoni (Johannesburg) factory
in order to meet commitments.
The platinum mine order goes well beyond
producing and delivering 26 500 AfroxPac 35i
self-rescuers. The mine also requires individ-
ual storage racks for each unit and is obliged
to train all users in the proper handling and
usage of the self-rescuers. To this end, Afrox
has provided 140 multi-rack storage frames
and thousands of items of training and sim-
ulation equipment and is currently training
the mine’s trainers and lamproom person-
nel. Afrox is also represented on the mine’s
implementation project committee that meets
weekly to oversee the deployment and roll-
out of the self-rescuers.
Afrox’s Peter Rowlands attributes the
award of this prestigious contract, amid
fierce competition, to several factors, includ-
ing Afrox’s significant investment in the R&D
that culminated in the AfroxPac 35i achiev-
ing compliance with the onerous SANS
1737:2008 standard. He lists the company’s
frank and robust relationship with the plati-
num miner as another key factor.
“All this is underpinned by the steadfast
customer support we’ve provided to the min-
ing company over the preceding 10 years in
the form of servicing, repairs, training and
responsiveness in supporting the AfroxPac
35 – predecessor to the new AfroxPac35i,” he
adds. “Ten years of independent CSIR per-
formance monitoring shows that the average
breathing duration of units in service contin-
ues to exceed the new specification.”
Peter Rowlands, Afrox, e-mail: peter.
